Patent Issued for Digital reputation management (USPTO 11676195): United Services Automobile Association

2023 JUN 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States) has been issued patent number 11676195, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Desai, Snehal (Richardson, TX, US), Erickson, Jennifer Hunt (San Antonio, TX, US), Prasad, Bharat (San Antonio, TX, US).

This patent was filed on February 23, 2021 and was published online on June 13, 2023.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “In today’s data driven world, individuals provide personal information about themselves with every digital interaction without ever realizing the consequences of providing personal information. Companies or organizations collect and analyze personal information obtained from individuals’ digital interactions to form a comprehensive digital personal reputation about each of those individuals. A digital personal reputation may not only impact an individual’s online, digital, or virtual presence but it may also impact that individual’s real-life interactions. For example, if a consumer uses a credit card for a financial transaction, the consumer may not only hand over personal information in that transaction but may also hand over a way to track that consumer’s behaviors. Attempts to prevent online, digital, or virtual presence by only avoiding credit card transactions may not be successful. For example, in a transaction involving only cash, a retailer may still be able to track purchases through rewards programs. The divulging of personal information may not be optional or transparent to the consumer. This personal information may be used by marketers, retailers, or financial institutions in a manner unapproved by the individuals. Individuals do not have a say in who has access to their personal information, how their personal information was obtained, and how their personal information will be used. Thus, individuals are not able to properly identify and control their personal information collected by companies or organizations.

“The techniques introduced here may be better understood by referring to the following Detailed Description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Moreover, while the technology is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the technology to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the technology is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the technology as defined by the appended claims.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “An individual’s digital reputation can be used to determine various aspects of that individual’s life. For example, an individual’s financial abilities such as credit worthiness can be determined not only from his or her payment history, but it can also be determined by that individual’s behavior data. A person may be deemed capable or trustworthy based not only on face-to-face interactions, but also by his or her digital interactions. For instance, while an individual’s professional credibility can be based on traditional publications or speaking engagements at conferences, that individual’s professional credibility can also be determined by his or her global reach or the number of followers following that individual on social media platforms such as on LinkedIn.

“The embodiments disclosed in this document can be used by individuals to control or improve their digital reputation. For example, the various embodiments can allow individuals to determine who has access to their personal information, how such personal information was obtained, how the personal information will be used, or how to improve their digital reputation. As further described in the sections below, in some embodiments, a digital data reputation platform may include any one or more of a digital data reputation score report, a reputation shopper application, a reputation data mapper application, and a reputation data masker application.

“Digital Data Reputation Score Report”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method of managing a digital reputation of a user by suggesting alternative purchases, the method comprising: collecting, via a portable electronic device, information identifying a first item for purchase, wherein the information identifying the first item is collected by at least one of: scanning a bar code on the first item, obtaining a photo of the first item, or collecting contents of a shopping cart including the first item; providing, to a remote server, the information identifying the first item for purchase, wherein the remote server determines a first digital reputation score indicative of a first effect of the first item on a digital reputation of the user; receiving the first digital reputation score indicative of the first effect of the first item on the digital reputation of the user; identifying, via the portable electronic device, information on an alternative item for purchase; sending, to the remote server, the information on the alternative item, wherein the remote server determines a second digital reputation score indicative of a second effect of the alternative item on the digital reputation of the user; receiving the second digital reputation score indicative of the second effect of the alternative item on the digital reputation of the user; and displaying, on the portable electronic device, the first digital reputation score and the second digital reputation score.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second digital reputation scores are displayed as markers on a line or bar that includes colors characterizing the first and second digital reputation scores.

“3. The method of claim 2, wherein a green color characterizes a digital reputation score above a first threshold, a yellow color characterizes a digital reputation between the first threshold and a second threshold, and a red color characterizes a digital reputation score below the second threshold.

“4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second digital reputation scores are based on one or more financial factors of the user, wherein the one or more factors include a spending habit, a saving habit, an age, an income, a shopping subscription, a social media posting, a bankruptcy, or any combination thereof.

“5. The method of claim 1 further comprising: generating a selectable list of parameters affecting the first digital reputation score; and creating a visual representation that demonstrates one or more changes in the first digital reputation score as the parameters are selected and deselected, wherein the visual representation is specific to a specified country and/or state.

“6. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying a representation of the alternative item with a hyperlink to an identified complementary item.

“7. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying an indication of one or more coupons identified for use with the alternative item.

“8. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying an alternative time and/or date to purchase the alternative item, wherein a purchase of the alternative item at the alternative time and/or date have been determined to result in a higher digital reputation score.

“9. The method of claim 1 further comprising masking, based on a user preference information collected from a payment card, the collected information about the first item from an identity of the user, thereby preventing purchase information from being mapped back to the user.

“10. The method of claim 1 further comprising: determining a location of the user via information gathered from the portable electronic device; and displaying an alternative location to purchase the alternative item, wherein purchase of the alternative item at the alternative location has been determined to result in a higher digital reputation score than the second digital reputation score.

“11. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a recommendation for an additional item to be purchased with the alternative item.

“12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform a process for managing a digital reputation of a user by suggesting alternative purchases, the process comprising: collecting, via a portable electronic device, information identifying a first item for purchase, wherein the information identifying the first item is collected by at least one of: scanning a bar code on the first item, obtaining a photo of the first item, or collecting contents of a shopping cart including the first item; providing, to a remote server, the information identifying the first item for purchase, wherein the remote server determines a first digital reputation score indicative of a first effect of the first item on a digital reputation of the user; receiving the first digital reputation score indicative of the first effect of the first item on the digital reputation of the user; identifying, via the portable electronic device, information on an alternative item for purchase; sending, to the remote server, the information on the alternative item, wherein the remote server determines a second digital reputation score indicative of a second effect of the alternative item on the digital reputation of the user; receiving the second digital reputation score indicative of the second effect of the alternative item on the digital reputation of the user; and displaying, on the portable electronic device, the first digital reputation score and the second digital reputation score.

“13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the first and second digital reputation scores are based on one or more financial factors of the user, wherein the one or more factors include a spending habit, a saving habit, an age, an income, a shopping subscription, a social media posting, a bankruptcy, or any combination thereof.

“14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the process further comprises: generating a selectable list of parameters affecting the first digital reputation score; and creating a visual representation that demonstrates one or more changes in the first digital reputation score as the parameters are selected and deselected.

“15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the process further comprises displaying an alternative time and/or date to purchase the alternative item, wherein a purchase of the alternative item at the alternative time and/or date have been determined to result in a higher digital reputation score.

“16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the process further comprises: determining a location of the user via information gathered from the portable electronic device; and displaying an alternative location to purchase the alternative item, wherein purchase of the alternative item at the alternative location has been determined to result in a higher digital reputation score than the second digital reputation score.

“17. A computing system comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memories storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to perform a process comprising: collecting, via a portable electronic device, information identifying a first item for purchase, wherein the information identifying the first item is collected by at least one of: scanning a bar code on the first item, obtaining a photo of the first item, or collecting contents of a shopping cart including the first item; providing, to a remote server, the information identifying the first item for purchase, wherein the remote server determines a first digital reputation score indicative of a first effect of the first item on a digital reputation of the user; receiving the first digital reputation score indicative of the first effect of the first item on the digital reputation of the user; identifying, via the portable electronic device, information on an alternative item for purchase; sending, to the remote server, the information on the alternative item, wherein the remote server determines a second digital reputation score indicative of a second effect of the alternative item on the digital reputation of the user; receiving the second digital reputation score indicative of the second effect of the alternative item on the digital reputation of the user; and displaying, on the portable electronic device, the first digital reputation score and the second digital reputation score.

“18. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the first and second digital reputation scores are based on one or more financial factors of the user, wherein the one or more factors include a spending habit, a saving habit, an age, an income, a shopping subscription, a social media posting, a bankruptcy, or any combination thereof.

“19. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the process further comprises: generating a selectable list of parameters affecting the first digital reputation score; and creating a visual representation that demonstrates one or more changes in the first digital reputation score as the parameters are selected and deselected.

“20. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the process further comprises displaying an alternative time, location, and/or date to purchase the alternative item, wherein a purchase of the alternative item at the alternative time, location, and/or date have been determined to result in a higher digital reputation score.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Desai, Snehal. Digital reputation management. U.S. Patent Number 11676195, filed February 23, 2021, and published online on June 13, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11676195)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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